Archive

MT's official files as Prime Minister, 1979-90

MT's official files as PM can be read on this site as they are released, in full and free to all - the confidential files originally stored at No.10, the core record of her premiership.

The files have been copied at the British National Archives (TNA) at Kew in London and can be downloaded precisely as they appear in the reading room.

We are doing something more to help people make sense of this mass of information. The files are subject-based, logically enough, but that system makes it difficult to reconstruct the flow of paper across the Prime Minister’s desk at any point in time, depriving us of a sense of context, of the political cross-winds, some of them overwhelming.

To combat this effect we are uploading a large selection of the most important documents from these files – thousands in total - to our powerful site database. You can search and sort by date, subject and other parameters, getting as close as anyone can now get to reconstructing the Prime Minister’s daily "Red Boxes", the rich diet of foreign and domestic policy papers submitted to her by the No.10 Private Office.

List and links to the PM’s files

Below are links to the downloadable files in numerical order. The subject terms are those used in the original filing system.

An average file has around 200 pages.

You can read here an account of how filing worked at No.10, and the system for archiving MT’s Prime Ministerial papers, both of which had their quirks.

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office files, 1979-1989

1979-89: Chancellor’s Private Office files [links to hundreds of digitised files from the Chancellorships of Sir Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson]

Engagement Diaries

An alternative way through the material is to read MT’s engagement diaries, jumping day to day.

The engagement diaries link directly to relevant documents in the site database, so this is a good way to recover the perspective from the Red Box.

Showing items 101 - 125 of 3727

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/2077 Downing Street (Staffing of the Private Office: review of out-of-hours watch arrangements) (Part 1) Begins: 1984 May 24 Ends: 1988 Oct 4 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2088 Economic Policy (Strategy) (Part 27) Begins: 1985 Jan 8 Ends: 1987 Jul 24 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2095 Economic Policy (Indebtedness of various countries; Treasury reports on the international financial scene) (Part 6) Begins: 1986 Mar 20 Ends: 1987 Oct 22 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2096 Economic Policy (Public sector pensions; Scott Report on the Value of Pensions) (Part 4) Begins: 1982 Jun 4 Ends: 1988 Jun 29 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2098 Economic Policy (Pension funds) Begins: 1987 Mar 24 Ends: 1987 Jul 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2100 Economic Policy (Policy on small firms; Local Enterprise Agencies) (Part 6) Begins: 1985 May 1 Ends: 1987 Jan 2 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2101 Economic Policy (Policy towards privatisation; disposal of public sector assets; contracting out of public sector functions) (Part 15) Begins: 1986 Nov 19 Ends: 1987 Mar 25 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2107 Economic Policy (Public sector pay policy; Treasury monitoring reports) (Part 13) Begins: 1984 Oct 4 Ends: 1987 Jul 23 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2115 Education (Education seminar held by the Prime Minister at Downing Street, 2 October 1985) Begins: 1985 Aug 30 Ends: 1986 Jan 1 Date of release: 2015 Dec 30
PREM19/2132 Elections (Election procedure) (Part 2) Begins: 1987 Jan 5 Ends: 1987 May 12 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21 Any docs withheld? 2
PREM19/2133 Elections (Election procedure) (Part 3) Begins: 1987 May 13 Ends: 1988 Mar 31 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2134 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; the Sizewell Report) (Part 10) Begins: 1986 Jun 2 Ends: 1987 Jan 26 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2135 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; Layfield report on new Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), Sizewell 'B'; doctrine of collective responsibility aspect of Energy Secretary's decision to accept Layfield recommendation; study by Advisory Council on Applied Research and Development (ACARD) on UK future nuclear reactor programme) (Part 11) Begins: 1987 Feb 4 Ends: 1987 Nov 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2136 Energy (Energy policy: nuclear power; revision of report by Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACOST) on industrial impact of Sizewell 'B' decision; extension of Joint European Torus (JET) project on nuclear fusion; disposal of UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) shareholding in National Nuclear Corporation; fast reactor programme) (Part 12) Begins: 1987 Dec 1 Ends: 1988 May 24 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2137 Energy (North Sea oil prices; petrol prices; world oil market) (Part 3) Begins: 1986 Feb 4 Ends: 1987 Feb 28 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2138 Energy (Future of British National Oil Corporation (BNOC): proposed sale of British Petroleum (BP) assets; Kuwaiti holding in BP) (Part 6) Begins: 1986 Mar 24 Ends: 1988 Dec 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2150 European Policy (Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)) (Part 18) Begins: 1987 Oct 1 Ends: 1988 Mar 30 Date of release: 2016 Jul 21
PREM19/2156 European Policy (European Council meeting, Brussels, June 1987) (Part 26) Begins: 1986 May 1 Ends: 1987 Jul 1 Date of release: 2019 Jul 18
PREM19/2159 European Policy (European Council meeting, Brussels, February 1988) (Part 28) Begins: 1988 Jan 21 Ends: 1988 Feb 22 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2160 European Policy (European Council meeting, Hanover, June 1988) (Part 29) Begins: 1988 Apr 1 Ends: 1988 Jun 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2174 Foreign Policy (Future inward and outward State visits; visits by members of the Royal Family) Begins: 1985 Sep 1 Ends: 1988 Aug 5 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2175 Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain, September 1988) Begins: 1988 Aug 1 Ends: 1988 Nov 30 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2176 Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Australia, Bahrain, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai, August 1988) (Part 1) Begins: 1988 May 12 Ends: 1988 Jul 31 Date of release: Retained Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2179 Foreign Policy (Summary notes on Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) Assessments) (Part 2) Begins: 1986 Sep 5 Ends: 1987 Dec 18 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2188 Government Buildings (Refurbishing of Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms) (Part 1) Begins: 1980 Jun 1 Ends: 1988 Aug 12 Date of release: Retained Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
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